The Dutch trance DJ and producer, who plays a marathon show here Saturday, earned $17 million in 2013. He discusses music, law school, drugs & more.

Dutch DJ and producer Armin Van Buuren is the marathon man of progressive trance, the Electronic Dance Music (EDM) style that has become synonymous with his name.

Over the past decade, he has been earned the top spot in DJ Magazine’s annual poll an unprecedented five times, and performed sold-out solo concerts at New York’s Madison Square Garden and in arenas everywhere from Mexico City to the former Soviet Union. A married father of two, he made $17 million lat year, according to Forbes magazine. His weekly radio show, "A State of Trance," which airs in the U.S. on Sirius/XM and more than 50 other countries, has a global audience of 20 million.

Van Buuren brings his “Armin Only: Intense” tour here Saturday to Valley View Casino Center. It will feature him solo, with a band, acrobats and more. Van Buuren recently spoke with us by phone from his home in Leiden, Holland, about music, his law degree, what he calls the "stigma" of drugs associated with EMD concerts.

Q: You have a law degree. Can you tell me the meaning of nolo contendere?

A: I wouldn’t know, because I haven’t done law since 2002. I should know it because I did the codex and everything to do with the history of law and the first law of the Roman Empire. I think I did that course in law school back in 1997, almost 20 years ago.

Q:Nolo contendere is the Latin phrase used when someone pleads “no contest” to charges against them, as in: “I didn’t do it, and I won’t do it again.” What have you done in your life that you won’t do again?

A: Um. well, probably law, actually, which is a shame. I finished my law degree and quite enjoyed it. But I'm so far into the music industry and I do it for a living now, which I enjoy very much. I do miss the academic challenge of being a lawyer, because you use your head a lot. I like to think about things and go into discussions that involve more than, 'Hey, how are you doing?', something a little more philosophical.

Q:Did you ever practice law?

A: Yeah, for about six months I was sort of the boy wonder that had to do everything for a big lawyer upstairs, who actually defended my case later on, a (music) copyright case, where somebody stole my melody and I wanted part of the publishing.

Q: Why did you get a law degree?

A: It was some sort of safety-net option. I wanted to be a doctor, because my dad was a general practitioner and I liked everything that had to do with medical stuff. But, in Holland, only 1,500 students can join the the basic medical school each year to become a doctor, because its very expensive. I had lottery No. 4007, so I had one year when I did law. It seemed like a safe option. I didn't have any particular interest in it and, for the first year, I didn't like. But I grew to really love it and I use law on a day-to-day basis because, for example, tax laws and the difference between common and public copyright law, which I specialize in and have to deal with in my day-to-day business. And, most importantly, what I learned in university was a work ethic -- don't muck about; if you really want to achieve something in life, you have to go for the goal and work for it. If I wanted to pass an exam, I had to work for it and think of a system to pull it off. And that's what i do now as a DJ.

Q: Are you a workaholic?

A: Um, I guess I am. I'm a little fanatical; any musician is. You have to be a little crazy like that to be a musician.

Q: Would your wife agree with that?

A: Absolutely. It's a matter of finding a balance in life. And everybody has little struggle with that. Do you want kids, or not want kids? We have two children now, so it's it your a balance between your family and your career.

Q: The spelling is a little different, but are you any relation to Martin Van Buren, the eighth president of the United States?

A: Unfortunately, I'm not. There are a lot of van Buurens, it's a very common name here in in the Netherlands. Buuren is a place in the Netherlands, and — once every every 10 years — they have a big gathering of everybody with van Buuren as a last name. The name means, if you translate it, 'neighbor.' So I'm your neighbor, you better watch out!

Q: Which was more influential to you: Klaus Schulze’s 1980s albums “Trancefer” and “En-Trance”; or Jean Michel Jarre’s 1970s albums “Oxygène” and “Equinoxe?”

A: I have to say Klaus Schulze’s, because my dad was more into the progressive stuff, the very first electronic music. Looking back, it was no surprise I'd be in music. Because one of the very first electronic works was (the) 1968 (album), Walter Carlos' 'Switched on Bach,' and my dad was fanatical about that record. My dad was really into new experimental music, and he was alone in that (regard). His friends listened to The Beatles, which he liked, but he had his own path of electronic music. Maybe its in my DNA...

Q: So, did you also get into some of the early German electronic music groups, like Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Temple?

A: Absolutely.

Q: Which Tangerine Dreams albums? "Phaedra?" "Rubycon?"

A: I remember Tangerine Dream very well. I can't remember any album titles, but I listened to a lot of Tangerine Dream's music.

Q: Do you advocate drug use?

A: Do you mean, do I support it? No, and there’s a very simple reason. The reason we prohibit drug use, and that it’s illegal, is because its not good for your health. And that’s been proven. I know (Apple computers co-founder) Steve Jobs and other brilliant minds think, or thought, differently. I always wonder why you need stimulants for creativity.

Q: Does it bother you, then, that there seems to be a large number of drug overdoses at Electric Daisy, Ultra and other EMD festivals?

A: I think that's pretty sad. That comes up. But you know, there's an equal number of drug and alcohol abuse (cases) at rock festivals. But for some reason, these don't have the same stigma as EDM festivals. It's hard to get rid of (that abuse) and a lot of people do stupid things. I don't support it . I don't use drugs myself; I never have. I like a glass of red wine, and that's about it. I think it's sad this music has this stigma and that I have to talk about that (drug aspect). It makes me wonder: "Am I that stupid for liking that music without all that (drug use)?" Drugs and music have always had a love-hate relationship, especially if you look at when The Beatles came up, the flower-power thing, and that had a stigma of drugs. It's the same thing now with EDM. It's fairly new, and — for some reason —drug (abuse) and electronic music have a very bad marriage. I think we should be talking about what dance music is doing to youth culture. It's the exact same thing as 1960s music did to my parents, with the Stones and The Beatles. EDM is moving a generation of kids and leaving its mark on its time.

Q: So, when you did what may be the longest DJ set ever, 12-and-a-half hours in 2003, how did you remain alert and perform for the entire time? And did your marathon performance lead to an endorsement deal with Red Bull?

A: Honestly, hand on my heart — believe it or not — I didn’t take any drugs. I think I brought 5 bottles of water and it was purely the music that kept me going. I still have to convince people, but come see my show in San Diego. That will be a 6-hour set and I’ll show you that all I’ll have is, maybe, a little banana and 2 liters of water, and that’s it...

Q: What do you do, before and after, performing for 6 hours?

A: I exercise a lot. I take it easy during the day. I have a great team of people who do sound-checks. So I try to relax as much as possible and I get so much energy from the music and the crowd. There's no question about (not) keeping going. I grew up in a bar in my hometown as a DJ, where I played 6-7 hours a day. A DJ was considered on the same level as a bar man and worked 7 hours a day. Now, young DJs think playing longer than 90 minutes is a disgrace, and that's sad.

Q: Were you spinning vinyl at the time? And, if so, how good were you at scratching?

A: It was vinyl. I was more into house music early on. I'm not a good hip-hop-style DJ. I used my time to learn (how to operate) MIDI and to program laptops.

Q: What house music DJs were you into? Frankie Knuckles? Felix Da Housecat?

A: No. I was into a Dutch master mixer, Ben Liebrand. He was one of first guys in the Netherlands to mix two records together, which everybody does now while they're cooking dinner. But at time, in 1977, mixing two records together was very new. He had "In the Mix," a very popular radio show. He made combinations of records that I found very interesting, which he used to create a whole new record, which I found so inspiring. I knew the original records and wanted to know how he did it.

Q: Are you and other DJs in the EMD world friendly, competitive, or friendly rivals?

A: Well, DJ Mag has made it competitive, but I don't think it's a good thing. Music is not a competition. Some people like to make it a competition, and there are good things and bad things about it. It's good people have an opinion. I like to see my fellow DJs as my colleagues, not competitors. It should be more about mutual respect.